Obesity-linked insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes are intimately linked to adipocyte dysfunction, increased adipocyte lipolysis, and lipid accretion in tissues other than adipose. In obesity, the hypertrophied adipocyte is not able to properiy store excess fatty acids, the rate of lipolysis is increased, and these lipids deposit in other tissues where they hamper insulin action. Inhibiting obesity-linked adipocyte lipolysis can improve insulin sensitivity. All enzymes involved in adipocyte lipolysis belong to the serine hydrolase family. Despite their importance in fat cell physiology, the majority of serine hydrolases have not been studied. Serine hydrolases (SHs) are a key enzyme family involved in metabolism and adipocyte function, v /here they contribute to lipolysis, lipogenesis, and lipid uptake. Yet, more than 50% ofthe 120+ human serine hydrolases, including some that have been genetically linked to human disease, remain unannotated, have no known function or physiological substrates, and most lack inhibitors to aid in their characterization and therapeuti validation. Because individual SHs already constitute targets for drugs that treat metabolic disease, it is reasonable to hypothesize that important additional drug targets will be found among the numerous SHs that remain uncharacterized. Discerning which of these unannotated SHs are relevant in adipocyte function and which may serve as therapeutic targets for obesity-diabetes is a very complex problem. The critically important research challenge that this project addresses is the identification and therapeutic validation of pooriy annotated metabolic serine hydrolases that play key roles in adipocyte function. Our multidisciplinary team will achieve this goal by combining cutting-edge chemoproteomic and metabolomics methods with deep biological expertise in obesity and type 2 diabetes. Specifically, we intend to globally identify and assess the therapeutic potential of unannotated SHs active in adipocytes and whose activity is modulated in physiologic conditions and in obesity-diabetes. Some of these enzymes may be new targets for metabolic disease. In the process, we will create first-in-class chemical probes and genetic models to study adipocyte SHs that will be distributed to the larger research community.

Public Health Relevance

This project will combine expertise from multiple scientific fields to establish the function in fat cells of a key class of enzymes that is poorly studied. Som of these uncharacterized enzymes may represent new drug targets to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Type
Resource-Related Research Projects (R24)
Project #
1R24DK099810-01
Application #
8583477
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZDK1-GRB-C (M2))
Program Officer
Haft, Carol R
Project Start
2013-08-15
Project End
2017-06-30
Budget Start
2013-08-15
Budget End
2014-06-30
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2013
Total Cost
$865,000
Indirect Cost
$374,179
Name
Scripps Research Institute
Department
Type
DUNS #
781613492
City
La Jolla
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
92037
Galmozzi, Andrea; Parker, Christopher G; Kok, Bernard P et al. (2018) Discovery of Modulators of Adipocyte Physiology Using Fully Functionalized Fragments. Methods Mol Biol 1787:115-127
Wang, Jiexin; Rajbhandari, Prashant; Damianov, Andrey et al. (2017) RNA-binding protein PSPC1 promotes the differentiation-dependent nuclear export of adipocyte RNAs. J Clin Invest 127:987-1004
Parker, Christopher G; Galmozzi, Andrea; Wang, Yujia et al. (2017) Ligand and Target Discovery by Fragment-Based Screening in Human Cells. Cell 168:527-541.e29
Kolar, Matthew J; Kamat, Siddhesh S; Parsons, William H et al. (2016) Branched Fatty Acid Esters of Hydroxy Fatty Acids Are Preferred Substrates of the MODY8 Protein Carboxyl Ester Lipase. Biochemistry 55:4636-41
Parsons, William H; Kolar, Matthew J; Kamat, Siddhesh S et al. (2016) AIG1 and ADTRP are atypical integral membrane hydrolases that degrade bioactive FAHFAs. Nat Chem Biol 12:367-372
Chen, Wentao; Dong, Jiajia; Plate, Lars et al. (2016) Arylfluorosulfates Inactivate Intracellular Lipid Binding Protein(s) through Chemoselective SuFEx Reaction with a Binding Site Tyr Residue. J Am Chem Soc 138:7353-64
Wang, Bo; Rong, Xin; Duerr, Mark A et al. (2016) Intestinal Phospholipid Remodeling Is Required for Dietary-Lipid Uptake and Survival on a High-Fat Diet. Cell Metab 23:492-504
Dominguez, Eduardo; Galmozzi, Andrea; Chang, Jae Won et al. (2014) Integrated phenotypic and activity-based profiling links Ces3 to obesity and diabetes. Nat Chem Biol 10:113-21
Galmozzi, Andrea; Sonne, Si B; Altshuler-Keylin, Svetlana et al. (2014) ThermoMouse: an in vivo model to identify modulators of UCP1 expression in brown adipose tissue. Cell Rep 9:1584-1593
Galmozzi, Andrea; Dominguez, Eduardo; Cravatt, Benjamin F et al. (2014) Application of activity-based protein profiling to study enzyme function in adipocytes. Methods Enzymol 538:151-69

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